BHUBANESWAR: The State government on Friday directed the Health and Family Welfare department to ensure that the eligible beneficiaries enrolled under Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) get the health coverage in a hassle-free manner. The direction came following rising complaints against private hospitals denying treatment to people covered under the scheme.
Chairing the governing body meeting of State Health Assurance Society (SHAS), Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra said, “Since the scheme has enhanced the access of people to tertiary care in private hospitals, major empanelled hospitals must have help desks for patients and ensure that patients are not harassed,” he advised.
He also directed to expedite disposal of claims of private hospitals so that people covered under the scheme would not face any problem for treatment in hospitals outside Odisha. As the State government has decided to provide health coverage to Odia workers in other states, the Labour Commissioner has been asked to suggest a list of states having more workers so that steps could be initiated to include them in the scheme at the earliest.
So far, around 98 per cent (pc) of the 96.5 lakh eligible households identified under the scheme have been provided smart health cards for cashless treatment in the empanelled hospitals.NHM Director and Chief Executive of SHAS Shalini Pandit said 328 private hospitals of Odisha and 65 in 15 other states have been empanelled under BSKY to extend health coverage under 1,592 clinical packages.
On an average 40,000 patients have been taking treatment in private hospitals and the State government has been paying around Rs 90 crore per month to them towards the cost of treatment. A total 1,97,355 claims amounting to Rs 384 crore were settled in 2021-22.
Major empanelled hospitals outside the State include Tata Memorial Hospital at Mumbai and Kolkata, CMC Vellore, Narayana Hrudayalaya Group of Hospitals, Shankara Cancer Group of Hospitals and Apollo, CARE, Mahatma Gandhi Cancer Institute and Seven Hill Hospital at Visakhapatnam besides the hospitals under Fortis Health Care Chain.